Solanum nigrum, Black nightshade, Common nightshade, Hound's berry,
Hebrew: סולנום שחור, Arabic:عنب الذيب الأسود, Egypt: عنب الديب "Enab El-Deib"

Scientific name:  Solanum nigrum L.
Common name:   Black nightshade, Common nightshade, Hound's berry
Hebrew name:  סולנום שחור
Arabic name:  عنب الذيب الأسود
Egypt:  عنب الديب "Enab El-Deib"
Family:  Solanaceae, סולניים

Solanum nigrum, Black nightshade, Common nightshade, Hound's berry, عنب الذيب الأسود,סולנום שחור

Life form:  Hemicryptophyte
Stems:  Up to 70 cm high; stems decumbent to erect, branched, with costate (having ribs) branches; green to purple
Leaves:  Alternate, entire
Inflorescence:  Lateral lax cymes, 4-10-flowered, on 3-5cm long peduncles
Flowers:  White, with yellow central anthers; pedicels longer than the flowers, recurved in fruit; calyx-lobes ovate, adhering to the base of the fruit; corolla 2-3 times longer than the calyx
Fruits / pods:  Berries usually broadly ovoid, dull purple to blackish or yellowish-green, 6-10 mm broad, remaining on plants or falling from calyces when ripe; seeds 1.7-2.4 mm long, 26 to 60 per berry. berries are poisonous
Flowering Period:  Spring, summer
Habitat:  Disturbed ground
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Euro-Siberian - Med - Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:  Ephemeral

Solanum nigrum, Black nightshade, Common nightshade, Hound's berry, عنب الديب ,סולנום שחור


Derivation of the botanical name:
Solanum, Latin for "quieting," in reference to the narcotic properties of some species.
nigrum, black, blackness; referring to the color of the seeds.
The Hebrew name: סולנום, solanum, transliteration from the scientific name.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
See the list of Medicinal herbs in Israel, the parts used and their medical uses to treat various diseases.


Solanum nigrum, Black nightshade, Common nightshade, Hound's berry, عنب الديب ,סולנום שחור